Vehicular audio system incorporating detachable cellular telephone

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a vehicular audio/cellular telephone system including a vehicular audio system and cellular telephone. In a first embodiment, the vehicular audio system including an AM/FM radio, cassette player, CD player, or combinations of these, integrates a detachable cellular telephone including a transceiver, rechargeable battery, and small non-directional antenna. A recorder means, typically in the form of the cassette player, is provided to record communications over the cellular telephone. When integrated into the vehicular audio system, the cellular telephone uses the vehicle&#39;s power source and external antenna.

This application is a continuation application of USA Application Ser.No. 09/129,148, filed Aug. 5, 1998, which is, in-turn, a continuationapplication of USA Application Ser. No. 08/550,799, filed Oct. 30, 1995,now U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,088.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to cellular telephone systems. Further,the invention relates to vehicular audio systems. Even moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a vehicular audio systemthat integrates a cellular telephone.

Mobile cellular telephones have become ubiquitous in present daysociety. Generally, these mobile cellular telephones can be held in thehand and include a key pad with ten numerical keys and one or morefunction keys for initiating transmission and receipt of incoming andoutgoing telephone calls. When making a cellular telephone call, it isnecessary to enter the desired telephone number or press a key sequenceto recall the desired telephone number from a memory directory, andpress a "send" key. In the interest of weight and convenience, the sizeof cellular telephones have been reduced during the last few years. Forexample, the cellular telephone manufactured by Sony under theidentification number CM-RX100, measures 31/2"×23/8"×11/8" and weighsonly a few ounces. Due to their small size, low weight and recent use ofsatellite relay stations, cellular telephones can be used virtuallyanywhere in the world.

Increasing numbers of automotive vehicles are being equipped with mobilecommunication devices such as cellular telephones. These have expandedfrom the original radios installed in police, fire department and taxivehicles to a large percentage of all vehicles on the road today. Thesesystems are, generally, not encompassed entirely in the user's hand butincorporate the power system of the vehicle and include an antennamounted to the exterior of the vehicle. Though these system are mobile,due to their dependence on the power and antenna systems of the vehicle,they are confined to the mobility of the vehicle and cannot be removedfrom the vehicle.

In order to take advantage of the benefits of both the pedestrianhand-held cellular telephone and the vehicular cellular telephone, newsystems have been developed which permit the hand-held pedestrian modelto be detachably mounted into a vehicle. These mounting apparatustypically include engagement and releasing devices and electricallyconductive terminals for communicating power and radio signals or thelike between the vehicle and the cellular mobile telephone. For example,U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,838 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,147 disclose mobilecellular telephones incorporated into a vehicle's steering wheelassembly. Each reference discloses that the cellular telephone may beremoved for pedestrian use. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,343 andU.S. Pat. No. 4,868,862 disclose cellular telephones detachably mountedto the dashboard of a vehicle.

None of the above referenced cellular telephone systems take advantageof the audio and control systems already found in an automotive vehicle.Nearly every vehicle is equipped with an audio system, such as a radio,cassette player, CD player, and combinations thereof. These audiosystems include a number of elements found in a cellular telephone suchas a power system, volume control, and a set of one or more speakerswhich generally, due to less size constraints, are of higher qualitythan found in a cellular telephone. Thus, it would be desirable tointegrate a cellular telephone to a vehicular audio system in order toshare components and to thereby eliminate duplication and reduce costsand complexity of the overall system. To this end, U.S. Pat. No.5,243,640 discloses a cellular telephone that has been physicallyintegrated into the vehicular audio system.

This reference does not disclose a cellular telephone and vehicularaudio system where the cellular telephone is detachable from the audiosystem and removable from the vehicle. Accordingly, it would beadvantageous to have an improved cellular telephone and vehicular audiosystem that incorporates a hand-held cellular telephone that isdetachably mounted in the interior of a vehicle.

Further, it would be advantageous to have a cellular telephone andvehicular audio system that integrates a cellular telephone with avehicular audio system to share components, to eliminate duplication, toreduce costs and diminish the complexity of the overall system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the aforementioned disadvantages byproviding a vehicular audio/cellular telephone system including an audiosystem and a cellular telephone. More particularly, the improvement is avehicular audio/cellular telephone system where the cellular telephoneis detachably mounted to the vehicle's audio system. In this manner, thecellular telephone of the present invention is capable of beingconveniently and efficiently utilized by a user both in a vehicle and atlocations distant from that vehicle.

As discussed above, mobile cellular telephones are typically provided intwo forms. The first mobile telephone system comprises a cellulartelephone that is hard-mounted (affixed) into a vehicle such as anautomobile or truck. These systems typically include an antennanon-detachably mounted to the exterior of the vehicle coupled to atransceiver disposed in the vehicle's interior. Power for thetransceiver is generally supplied through the vehicle's power system.The second presently employed mobile telephone system is a portablehand-held transceiver. These systems typically weigh a few pounds orless and include a small rechargeable battery.

It is recognized that the vast majority of all vehicles include somesort of audio system. These are usually in the form of an AM/FM radiobut often include additional features such as cassette or CD player.Importantly, vehicular audio systems also include a power supply, anantenna for receiving radio signals and a speaker system having volumecontrol. Each of these features are also found on mobile cellulartelephone systems. Because the audio system found in a vehicle do nothave the weight, power or dimensional limitations that constrain thedesigns of cellular telephones, the receiver and audio portions of theaudio systems often offer better quality, efficiency and control thantheir cellular telephone counterparts.

The present invention provides for an vehicular audio/cellular telephonesystem that takes advantages of the beneficial features of a cellulartelephone system that is hard-mounted into a vehicle, with theconvenience of a hand-held portable cellular telephone and the quality,efficiency and control of the audio system found in most vehicles. Forexample, detached from the vehicular audio system, the cellulartelephone of the present invention, utilizes its own antenna. Thisantenna is typically very small and often retractable for facilitatingpedestrian use. When integrated to the vehicular audio system, thecellular telephone of the present invention takes advantage of theantenna used by the vehicular audio system ordinarily used only toreceive AM and FM signal transmissions. In this manner, in operation,the cellular telephone takes advantage of the antenna affixed to theexterior of the vehicle. The technology for receiving multiple signalsat different frequencies is reflected in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,134,419,5,280,636 & 5,300,936 and will not be discussed in further detail.

The present invention incorporates the inherent advantages of both thevehicular audio system and the mobile pedestrian cellular telephone bypermitting each system to independently control the other. For example,the present system inhibits or reduces the sound emanating from theaudio system when an incoming call is received or is in progress. Inparticular, the invention includes a means of controlling the volume ofboth systems independently. In another embodiment, the present inventionincludes a means of controlling the volume of the vehicular audio systemas a ratio of the volume of the sound produced by the cellulartelephone. In this manner, the audio of the cellular telephone can beset so as to always be understood by the listener over the volume of thevehicular audio system.

Similarly, when detached from vehicular audio system, the cellulartelephone of the present invention will use its own integratedmicrophone and speaker. When attached to the vehicular audio system, thecellular telephone will produce audio through the speaker system of thevehicular audio system. In this manner, the miniature speaker of thecellular telephone is replaced with the higher quality, larger, multiplespeaker system typically found in vehicular audio systems. Furthermore,in a first embodiment, the vehicular audio system of the presentinvention does not include an additional microphone for use when thecellular telephone is integrated to the vehicular audio system. In theinterests of cost and simplicity, the speaker found in the cellulartelephone is configured to receive and transmit a driver or occupant'svoice even when integrated to a vehicular audio system. In an additionalembodiment, the vehicular audio system includes an additional microphonewhich, by example only, may be disposed in the driver side visor orsteering wheel of vehicle. In this manner, the quality of transmissionfrom the cellular telephone may be increased by utilizing a higherquality microphone, by utilizing a directional microphone to be directedto the speaker's mouth, or by utilizing a microphone in closer proximityto the speaker's mouth.

In still another embodiment, telephone status information is displayedon the display disposed in the vehicular audio system. Typically,vehicular audio systems include a LCD display that discloses the presentfunction of the audio system. For example, an audio display willtypically disclose present volume, the playing mode such as AM, FM, tapeplayer or compact disc, received radio frequency (rf) or if the audiosystem is playing a tape or compact disc, the musical tract. The presentinvention takes advantage of the fact that vehicular audio displays areengineered to efficiently transmit information to the driver.Accordingly, the present invention displays the cellular telephonestatus information, such as number dialed, telephone volume, and whethera call is initiated, on the vehicular audio display.

An advantage of the present invention is that a person is not requiredto purchase a separate cellular telephone for both their vehicle and forpedestrian use to enjoy the advantageous features found in eachapparatus.

Furthermore, the present invention provides for an optimal location fora cellular telephone in a vehicle to maximize user ergonomics whilesimultaneously charging the cellular telephone for pedestrian use.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will beappreciated by those skilled in the art upon reading the detaileddescription which follows with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawing where:

FIG. 1 is a frontal view of the vehicular audio/cellular telephonesystem of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the operation of the present inventiondescribing the receipt and separation of respective rf AM/FM radiosignals and rf cellular telephone communication signals; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the operation of the present inventiondescribing the control, processing, integration and amplification ofrespective rf AM/FM radio signals and rf cellular telephonecommunication signals being sent to the amplifier of the vehicle's audiosystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in variousforms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be describeda presently preferred embodiment of the invention, with theunderstanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as anexemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit theinvention to the specific embodiment illustrated.

As shown in the exemplary drawings where like numerals represent likeelements, the invention is embodied in a vehicular audio systemincorporating a detachable cellular telephone. Referring to FIG. 1, thevehicular audio system incorporating detachable cellular telephone 1,includes a vehicular audio system 3 and cellular telephone 5. The audiosystem 3 includes an AM/FM radio 18, a cassette player 23, a CD player29, or a combination of these. As is understood by those in the art, thecassette player and CD player of the present invention includes cassetteand CD controls 25 and 31, respectively. Further, first and secondcavities 27 and 33 are disposed in the vehicular audio system to receiveaudio cassettes and audio CDs. As shown in FIG. 1, the audio systemfurther includes an AM/FM control button 21 and radio presets 19.

In addition, the vehicular audio system includes a cellular phone cradleconfigured as a rectangular recession for receipt of the detachablecellular telephone 5. In turn, the cellular telephone cradle includes arelease button 11, a push-off spring 15, and power and signal terminals13. The cellular telephone cradle 7 permits receipt and affixation of acellular telephone such that audio system terminals 13 engage electricalterminals 77 disposed on the exterior of the cellular telephone.Operation of the release button 11 in conjunction with push off spring15 disengages and ejects the cellular telephone 5 from the vehicularaudio system 3 to permit mobile use of the cellular telephoneindependent of the vehicular audio system.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vehicular audiosystem includes numerous power and signal terminals 13, though only twoare shown for clarity. For example, in a preferred embodiment thecellular telephone and audio system include terminals for communicatingpower, electrical ground, relay of received antenna signals, externalmicrophone signals, outgoing voice signals and control signals. Thefunction and operation of each of the terminals are discussed in greaterdetail below.

A control panel 37 is disposed in the face of the vehicular audio system3 to provide primary control of both the vehicular audio system and thecellular telephone. In a preferred embodiment, the control panel 37includes a numerical key pad 39, intensity control 41 and mode controlbuttons 43.

The vehicular audio system also includes a display 17 that discloses thepresent function of the audio system or cellular telephone. Inconjunction with the operation of control panel 37, the display 17discloses the operating mode and functions of the audio system such asAM, FM, tape player, CD player, volume, etc., as well as cellulartelephone status information such as the number dialed, telephonevolume, initiation of call being sent, etc.

As would be understood by those in the art, the detachable cellulartelephone 5 may be provided in any number of configurations. As shown inFIG. 1, an embodiment of the cellular telephone is configured as a flipphone including a swivel 63 whereby microphone 71 may be rotated aboutswivel 63 to engage the face plate of the main body of the cellulartelephone or rotated in the opposite direction to provide access to anumerical key pad 65 and a display 75. The cellular telephone comprisesa small, lightweight, low cost, mobile transceiver hand-set with asmall, non-directional antenna 69. The single antenna 69 provides bothtransmit and receive functions. It is fully portable and whetherstationary or in motion, permits access to a wide range ofcommunications services such as voice communication, facsimile, orcomputer network accessibility. Typically, the cellular telephoneincludes a liquid crystal display 75 for displaying communication statussuch as the telephone number to be transmitted, battery power level,received signal strength level and the like. The cellular telephonefurther includes a transceiver circuit (not shown) connected to aspeaker 73 which is driven by an audio amplifier. The transceivercircuit also includes a receiver which is coupled to an antenna 69. Thereceiver receives incoming radio frequency telephone signals from acellular transponding unit. Transceiver further includes a transmittercoupled to a microphone 71. When separated from the vehicular audiosystem 3, the cellular telephone 5 operates in a conventional manner.Rechargeable battery power is applied to the transceiver circuit. Theoperation of the numerical keypad coupled to the transceiver circuitinitiates telephone communication. The transmitter connected tomicrophone 71 sends rf telephone speech signals to the cellulartransponder unit by means of antenna 69. Similarly, the receiverreceives rf telephone speech signals from antenna 71 which are processedand relayed to speaker 73.

In the engaged configuration, in which cellular telephone 5 is disposedin the audio system recess 9, the cellular telephone terminals 77 engagethe vehicular audio system terminals 13. In this manner, power isrelayed from the vehicular audio system power source (not shown) to therechargeable battery disposed in the cellular telephone 5. Similarly,various signals are transmitted to the cellular telephone from thevehicular audio system. Rf voice cellular communication signals receivedfrom the vehicular audio system's antenna mounted on the exterior of thevehicle and voice signals produced from external microphone 35 arerelayed through the terminals 77 and 13 to cellular telephone'stransceiver. Control signals produced from control panel 37 to controlthe operation of the cellular phone, such as the inputting of phonenumbers to place a call, are also communicated through terminals 77 and13 to the cellular telephone.

It is an object of the invention that when the cellular telephone isintegrated to the vehicular audio system that a single control panel 37controls the functions of both systems when integrated. Accordingly, thecontrol panel includes a numerical key pad 39 to allow the user to inputnumerals for placing a call. Mode control buttons 43 permits selectionof the audio or cellular telephone mode, such as a choice between radio,tape player, CD player, cellular communication, or a combination ofthese. In a preferred embodiment, intensity controls 41 control theaudio produced from both the received rf communications signal and theradio signal independently. More particularly, the audio portionproduced from the cellular telephone may be controlled as a ratio of theintensity of the audio produced from the received radio signal. Forexample, the audio of the cellular telephone may be set at twice theintensity of the audio of the radio permitting the user to communicateon the cellular telephone while still listening to the vehicular audiosystem at a comfortable volume. Increasing or decreasing the volume ofcombined audio can be effected by manipulating a single intensitycontrol 41 while maintaining the volume of the audio of the cellulartelephone at the same ratio to the volume of the audio of the vehicularaudio system. Likewise, the ratio of the volume of the cellulartelephone system to the volume of the vehicular audio system can beeffected by manipulating a single intensity control to permit the userto increase or decrease the volume of either system while maintaining arelatively constant combined volume in the vehicle.

It is another object of the invention that the vehicular audio system 3include an additional microphone 35 separate from the microphone 71disposed in the cellular telephone 5. As shown in FIG. 1, the microphoneis disposed in the faceplate of the vehicular audio system 3; however,the invention includes additional configurations where the microphone issituated closer to the user's mouth such as being placed in thevehicle's steering wheel or sunvisor. Voice communication from the useris received by microphone 35 and relayed as an electrical signal to thetransceiver circuit in the cellular telephone through terminals 13 and77. The transceiver circuit processes the received voice communicationinto an outgoing radio frequency in either analog or digital form. Theradio signal is thereafter fed through terminals 77 and 13 to theantenna disposed on the vehicle's exterior which transmits the signal toa cellular receiving station.

In another preferred embodiment, the vehicular audio tape player iselectrically coupled to the cellular telephone and includes capabilitiesof recording incoming and outgoing voice communication from the cellulartelephone. All voice communication through the cellular telephone can berecorded for further review.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a block diagram describing thefunction of the vehicular audio system receiver. The antenna receivesboth rf AM/FM radio signals and rf communication signals through thevehicle's exterior antenna 101. A signal analyzer determines whether thereceived signals are rf communication signals or radio signals which arethen separated by signal splitters and bandpass filters or the like inthe switching mechanism 105. Once separated, the respective signals aresent to the AM/FM radio circuitry 107 and to the cellular telephonecircuitry 109.

Referring also to FIG. 3, the rf signals of the radio and cellular phoneare processed and converted from high frequency rf signals into audiosignals and transmitted to control logic circuitry 111. The controllogic circuitry 111 controls the intensity of the audio of both theradio and cellular telephone as a function of the other. Thereafter,each of the respective signals are combined at interface circuitry 113and transmitted to the vehicular audio system amplifier and to thevehicle's speakers.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention. Having identified the presently preferredbest mode thereof, I claim:
 1. An audio/mobile telephone systemcomprising:an audio system for processing audio signals; a mobiletelephone connected to said audio system, said mobile telephoneincluding a transceiver for processing transmitted and received mobiletelephone communication signals; a speaker assembly for audio productionof said audio signals and for audio production of said received mobiletelephone communication signals; a power supply connected to said audiosystem and said mobile telephone for suppling power to said audio systemand said mobile telephone; an antennae means for transmitting andreceiving mobile telephone communication signals; and a recorder meansconnected to said audio system and said mobile telephone for recordingcommunications passing through said mobile telephone.
 2. Theaudio/mobile telephone system of claim 1 wherein said mobile telephoneis detachable and capable of use at a location distant from said audiosystem.
 3. The audio/mobile telephone system of claim 1 wherein saidaudio signals include standard AM/FM radio signals.
 4. The audio/mobiletelephone system of claim 1 wherein said audio signals include memorystored on an audio compact disc (CD).
 5. The audio/mobile telephonesystem of claim 1 wherein said audio system includes a standard taperecorder.